The wit is exceedingly limited in its ability to self - heal after serious wound unlike , say , the skin or liver . And so , when the brain is severely damaged – for example , post - stroke – it is permanently damage . It leaves behind a cavity empty of neurons , axons , and blood vessel , which mean that while the patient can learn to compensate for their disability , they can not regrow the neuron they have lost .
Now , researchers at the University of California , Los Angeles ( UCLA ) , have herald an exciting new ontogenesis : a diagonal - healing gel that can help regrow nerve cell and stemma vas damage by stroke . It has already proved successful in black eye and the team hop it can be used to treat citizenry in the not - too - distant future . Their findings have been published in the journalNature Materials .
The squad has cook up a hydrogel riddle with medicament that help stimulate the growing of blood watercraft and quash inflammation , which can prevent functional tissue paper from rejuvenating .
“ We essay this in science laboratory mice to specify if it would repair the nous and go to recuperation in a theoretical account of apoplexy , ” S. Thomas Carmichael , a prof of clinical neurology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA , explained in astatement . “ The study indicate that new psyche tissue can be regenerated in what was previously just an inactive Einstein scar after stroke . ”
During the study , supported by the National Institute of Health ( NIH ) , the colloidal gel was injected into accident cavities , where it thickened to form a scaffold - like complex body part that could conduct the growing of newfangled nerve cell and profligate vessel . The mice recovered surprisingly well and in just 16 weeks , the dental caries show new wit tissue paper – including new neuron . On a practical floor , the mice were more good at reaching for food after treatment , revealing much - ameliorate motor coordination .
In the end , the gel was absorbed by the consistence . All that was left behind was the new tissue paper .
However , the team admits they are not yet indisputable what is the mechanism behind the improved motor behaviour .
“ The new axon could really be exploit , ” said Tatiana Segura , a former prof of chemical and biomolecular engine room at UCLA involved in the research . “ Or the novel tissue could be improve the operation of the surrounding , unharmed brain tissue . ”
Still , the researcher say the resultsarepromising and show a possible remedy if applied in the flow immediately after a slash occurs , i.e. the first five days in mice and the first two months in world . The next stage will be to see if they can activate a alike recovery in the catamenia after that .
